First-round pick Melo has a long ways to go

BOSTON — After a freshman season that saw highly touted center Fabricio (Fab) de Melo labeled anywhere from lazy to a bust, the young 7-footer’s basketball future was in doubt. A year later, he’s a Boston Celtic.

BOSTON — After a freshman season that saw highly touted center Fabricio (Fab) de Melo labeled anywhere from lazy to a bust, the young 7-footer’s basketball future was in doubt. A year later, he’s a Boston Celtic.

Melo was the 22nd pick in the first round of Thursday’s 2012 NBA Draft. He’ll join the 21st pick, Jared Sullinger of Ohio State, and second-round pick Kris Joseph, a teammate at Syracuse, in the Celtics’ rookie class. Few players in the country made as huge a jump from their freshman to sophomore seasons, both on and off the court.

“He played one year in good shape with us and was as good as any big man in the country defensively, so he’s just scratching the surface,” said Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim. “He’s just about 7-feet-1 and is 265 pounds, so physically he’s ready to play in the NBA.”

A native of Brazil, Melo didn’t shift his athletic pursuits from soccer to basketball until the ninth grade. He came to Florida in 2008 and played only one season of high school ball but was deemed so promising that most scouting services ranked him among the top-25 prospects in the country. When he showed up at Syracuse in the fall of 2010, he was labeled the Big East’s preseason Rookie of the Year, but he was heavy, homesick and stuck behind senior Rick Jackson in Boeheim’s rotation.

Melo finished the season averaging just 10 minutes and managed only 2.3 points and 1.9 rebounds a game.

“We were all over him and he was hearing he was a bust and all. That’s a hard thing to swallow,” said associate head coach Mike Hopkins.

Melo could have quit and found a pro contract somewhere in Europe, but instead he worked even harder. He spent the summer with the Brazilian entry in the World University Games and showed up for his sophomore season in the Big East 30 pounds lighter and ready for a breakout season.

“Kids play all the time and that first experience is all new to them,” Hopkins said, “and Fab could have quit or go do the pro thing overseas. But he showed he could face adversity and thrive.”

Patrolling the middle of SU’s active zone defense, Melo was a superb rim protector last season. He averaged 7.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and nearly three blocks a game in 25.4 minutes. He missed three games in the middle of the season due to an academic issue and then was shockingly declared ineligible for the NCAA Tournament two days before the Orange played their first game.

“Fab got behind academically and panicked a little,” said Boeheim, “but he straightened that out. The tournament was another issue that had nothing to do with academics. He’s a competitor, he’s a good teammate and he has a good work ethic, which is the most important thing for big men.”

Boeheim said he’s seen Kevin Garnett in a practice environment and hopes the Celtics’ big man returns to the team because he’d clearly help Melo’s development. Asked if Melo will have a major transition period adjusting from a college zone defense to the NBA’s man-to-man, the veteran coach responded with a laugh.

“Whoever says that doesn’t know what they’re talking about,” he said. “The center helps a lot in our defense and in the man-to-man in the NBA. He’ll have no issues. Even though he’s not an experienced player yet, I think he can help a team on defense and with his shot-blocking right away.”

Melo, who was the first Syracuse player drafted by the Celtics, would have been “a top-seven or eight pick for sure,” if he returned to school, according to Boeheim. In the second round, Joseph became the second. A third, Dion Waiters, was the fourth overall pick by the Cavaliers. It was the first time three SU players were taken in the same draft since Pearl Washington (No. 13), Rafael Addison (second round) and Wendell Alexis (No. 59) went in the 1986 draft.

“Kris is a good player. I think he can help the Celtics because they need wing players,” Boeheim said. “He led us in scoring two years in a row and we had a lot of weapons on those teams.”